LGD Puppy training - Chickens and Ducks

[nicasioeggs]

Hi!

I have a Great Pyr / Maremma 4 month old puppy. He lives out in the pasture and was raised with baby goats alongside his parents. We got him a month ago, and he was fine with the chickens and ducks running around. But nrecently, he is trying to grab ducks and "play" with them like chew toys...I caught him holding one down and chewing the feathers off its back and licking it.

Once I caught him in the act, I reprimanded him, and then the next day I caught him again with a duck in his paws. Once he saw me he let it go.

Now is this normal playful behavior for his age? Should I seperate the ducks from him for a while?

If anyone has experience bird training an LGD, I sure would appreciate some insight


Thanks!!

 

[kidcody]

from washington state glad you joined us!
Sounds like your puppy is behaving like a normal puppy, I would separate them until your puppy is older and when you can watch them together at all times.

 

[nicasioeggs]

Thanks!

I just don't want to cause more excitement by seperating them. He seems to be more interested in trying to catch and play with 7 new ducks we recently acquired. So Im wondering if he needs time to adjust to new animals and mayeb doesn't accept them right away?

I also heard it's bad to have an LGD puppy play or interact with your house dog. Is that true? They get along fine...play for maybe ten minutes a day. I just didn't the LGD pup to tear aprt my black lab if he ever saw him in the area.

 

[sumi]

Hello and welcome to BYC

Sorry, can't offer advice, but good luck with you puppy and your ducks!

 

[nicasioeggs]

Thanks Sumi

 

[HEChicken]

I am new to LGD's, having had mine only a week so I've had lots of questions too. I am interested to hear the answers to your first question but on the second, about playing with the pet dogs, I had that concern as well, as my 16-month-old loves to play with my 20-month-old Lab/Border Collie. I was told by multiple people that it is fine to let them play. They still need the dog socialization even though they are a working breed. And what I've noticed is they will play but when the LGD is done, she will end the play session and go off to patrol. The pet dogs don't even try to follow her - they just accept that she is done and has gone back to work.

 

[blessedchick]

OH! So glad to see this thread! I acquired my 3 mth old Pyrenees/Shepherd mix last week and this is my first time training a LGD. I have kept her on a long cable tied to the fence while my Silkies free range while I'm home and let her loose again once they are locked up. She has ignored the LF girls but she is very interested in the Silkies and the guineas (smaller? faster?) It seems to be the same kinda thing - she wants to chase and play with them but is not being agressive about it. She did pin a guinea juvenile a couple nights ago (my bad...I decided to try her off leash) and my over reaction of shrieking hysterically and grabbing her with the force of 10 people seemed to put the fear of God into her. Now if I say a firm, "NO" when she gives the critters an interested look she will turn away and relax.

I did read that you MUST be very firm with them while they are small to set the limits. I have learned that she will not be off leash while the smaller birds are out for quite some time. Her cable allows her to lie next to the Silkie run so she can get use to chicken antics from a safe spot.

I also have 2 little papillons that I have let her play with each day, but the papillons really aren't interested in her. They are older and once they trot for the house she will back down and leave them alone. I would think that it would be good to socialize them with the dogs that SHOULD be on the property, but not others so they will run off any wild dogs or strays that may try to attack your chickens.

Please keep the info coming and I will add what I can as I learn along the way! I'd love to pick up tips from the experts - I don't want to lose any birds due to an error on my part and I want my puppy to be a fab LGD!

 

[nicasioeggs]

Does keeping your LGD tied up cause any more excitement or agression? I didn't think of tying mine up because I didn't want to cause that reaction. It's so strange that mine chose ducks to "play" with , and your chose just the Silkies.

Today I left the new ducks in a seperate pen to see if it's just these he's picking on. It also seems to happen at his "crazy energy hours" of dawn, and dusk. Especially at Dusk. he just gets really frisky. Even jumping into a group of chickens just to watch them scatter and slowly walking away from them.

 

[blessedchick]

Does keeping your LGD tied up cause any more excitement or agression? I didn't think of tying mine up because I didn't want to cause that reaction. It's so strange that mine chose ducks to "play" with , and your chose just the Silkies.

Today I left the new ducks in a seperate pen to see if it's just these he's picking on. It also seems to happen at his "crazy energy hours" of dawn, and dusk. Especially at Dusk. he just gets really frisky. Even jumping into a group of chickens just to watch them scatter and slowly walking away from them.

I just tie her up for a couple of hours each evening while the Silkies do their free ranging. It doesn't seem to get her overly excited and she isn't aggressive at all...still such a puppy! It does sound like your guy is just getting so overwhelmed with puppy madness that he can't contain himself. Hopefully both of ours will calm down a bit as they age???

 

[nicasioeggs]

Yes hopefully. Have you nuetered yours yet? I'm planning on doing so in September at 6 mos old. Any thoughts on this? I understand it should help calm him down and help him stay close to home. Our pup is constantly trying to mount our 3 year old Black Lab! And the lab letys this 4 month old do it! sigghh....Any similar actions by yours?